This tool handles two types of usage :

• generate retroarch sorted romsets (fbneo, mame2003, mame2003plus, mame2010, regular mame) keeping only the games referenced in the BestArcade list, above and equal to the working state level you choose.
• generate dedicated romsets : custom mame based on Best Arcade list, neo geo aes set, atomiswave set, naomi set, handheld set

FbNeo version currently tested is Apr 30th, 2024 Handheld supported romset is currently at mame 0.265 level

• It's not clrmamepro and will not check that your romsets files are in the right version number
• It only works with non-merged sets, split and merged sets are not supported, use clrmamepro to generate non-merged sets if needed. However very few clones ares used, so it should be mostly ok with other type of sets.
• CHD are handled, decompressed CHD folder for each games must be located inside your CHD folder or will default to romset directory (i.e your CHD directory should contain kinst.zip rom and kinst chd folder at the same level)
• You can excude CHD games from generation if that's what you want

Retroarch tab :

• Available in Pi3, N2/N2+, N100 miniPCs flavor
• Only N100 tests will be maintained in the future, but feel free to share your tests for other machine types
• BestArcade list for Raspberry Pi3
• BestArcade list for Odroid N2/N2+
• BestArcade list for N100 MiniPC
• Generate BestArcade romsets by using your fbneo, mame2003, mame2003plus and mame2010 non-merged sets, your original sets will be kept intact
• Generate basic gamelist (Recalbox format but should work for other distribs) for your sets, with optional images. Genre images were generated with the awesome site Game-icons.net
• Generate csv files documenting the generated sets
• Generate a scoresheet comparing working level in generated sets
• Generate dat files for the generated romsets
• All needed DATs are included in the application

Custom tab :

• Same as above, without the testing part and everything related to it
• So it will generate a set of the most interesting games
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Neo Geo AES tab :

• Generate Neo Geo AES full set from either FBNeo or recent mame set, FBNeo is recommanded though
• FBNeo/Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Sega Model 2, Sega Model 3, Atomiswave, Naomi and Naomi2 tabs :

• Generate full sets of this system from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

Handhelds tab :

• Generate full set of all single-game (game & watch like, no consoles) handheld devices from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

TV Games tab:

• Generate full set of all TV Games devices from a recent mame set
• Mame DAT must be provided by the user

• BestArcade requires that python3 is installed
• first install Tkinter for python3 if needed : sudo apt-get install python3-tk
• directly download sources or clone the repo with :

sudo apt install git # optional, only if git is not installed
git clone https://github.com/Voljega/BestArcade

• give execution rights to BestArcade.sh :

cd BestArcade            # change to BestArcade directory
chmod u+x BestArcade.sh  # give execution perms (already done in git-cloned version)

• launch with ./BestArcade.sh or ./BestArcade

Just execute BestArcade.exe from latest release

After execution your will find your generated romsets in your exportDir See next part for configuration explanation

Verify will check the validity of the various folders and/or dats

Save will save you configuration to both the related conf.conf file (making a copy of the previous conf.conf file to conf.bak) and in memory

Proceed will save your configuration in memory only, leaving your conf.conf file intact and launch the whole process

You can build your own Windows version with the instructions found in build.txt

You can also directly modify conf files manually if you prefer, see next sections

You can modify your configuration by editing the conf\conf-retroarch.conf file either directly or from the UI with your own parameters :

• exportDir : the target directory for generation, warning its whole content will be erased (you will be prompted) at the begining of the script
• fbneo, mame2003, mame2003plus, mame2010 : the path to your original sets, this will be left untouched by the script
• chd: the path to your CHD set, if it doesn't exist, it will simply default to romset folder
• images: Paths to your images folder (flyers, screenshot, etc) separated by ';', will be checked in consecutive order
• imgNameFormat : the image name format in your images folder, '{rom}' part will be replaced by each rom name
• dryRun : If put to 1, will do a dry run, generating only csv and dat files without copying roms and bios, good for testing
• keepLevel: the working state level at which you will keep the roms in the generated romset (i.e keepLevel 2 will keep only MOSTLY_WORKING and WORKING roms)
• keepNotTested: determines if untested roms will be kept or not, even in STRICT mode
• exclusionType: determines how roms will be kept (based on their working state level) if you use several romsets
• preferedSet: in strict mode, if rom has same working level in several sets, preferedSet will be chosen
• usePreferedSetForGenre : in strict mode, activate use of prefered set for specific genres
• BeatEmUpPreferedSet,GunPreferedSet,MiscPreferedSet,PlatformPreferedSet,PuzzlePreferedSet,RacePreferedSet,RunNGunPreferedSet,ShootEmUpPreferedSet,SportPreferedSet,VsFightingPreferedSet list of settings for prefered set for genre
• genreSubFolders: determines if your romset will use sub folders for genre or not
• useImages: determines if images will be used for gamelist
• excludeCHDGames: determines if CHD games are to be excluded

You can modify your configuration by editing the related conf\conf-*.conf (conf\conf-custom.conf, conf\conf-naomi.conf, etc...) file either directly or from the UI with your own parameters :

• exportDir : the target directory for generation, warning its whole content will be erased (you will be prompted) at the begining of the script
• custom, neogeoaes, model2, model3, atomiswave, naomi or handheld : the path to your original sets, this will be left untouched by the script
• chd: the path to your CHD set, if it doesn't exist, it will simply default to romset folder
• dat : the path to your set dat
• images: Paths to your images folder (flyers, screenshot, etc) separated by ';', will be checked in consecutive order
• imgNameFormat : the image name format in your images folder, '{rom}' part will be replaced by each rom name
• dryRun : If put to 1, will do a dry run, generating only csv and dat files without copying roms and bios, good for testing
• genreSubFolders: determines if your romset will use sub folders for genre or not
• useImages: determines if images will be used for gamelist
• excludeCHDGames: determines if CHD games are to be excluded